Terry Wunderlich and Dennis Badagliacco are named AREA’s 2014 Members of the Year

December 15, 2014 – Associated Realty of the Americas www.areamericas.com 1-520-625-9207 is a Real Estate referral organization, founded in 2007, consisting of fully vetted, committee approved members who believe that it requires a team to make any successful transaction. They are people of proven character and integrity, who are at the pinnacle of excellence in their chose profession. Many of our members are active in their local, regional and state-province and national boards of real estate where they provide quality leadership in an ever changing market place.

This year AREA has chosen two members to share the title of being “Member of the Year”. They are Terry Wunderlich of Terra Firma Global Partners located in Napa, California and Dennis Badagliacco, Legacy Real Estate, located in San Jose, California.

Terry was chosen for the leadership she demonstrated as the 2014 Co-Chair of the AREA Retreat, which was held in October in Napa. As Co-Chair, she, together with the leadership of AREA, was responsible for coordinating all of the activities of the group in Napa. In September an earthquake hit Napa causing wide spread damage and great fear of its aftermath. A week after the event, Terry wrote an amazing letter to all of the members of AREA telling them that the recovery was well underway and the city was open for business. This act, alone, caused many members, especially those on the East Coast, to bury their fears and to ultimately attend the event. The result was that a record 70% of the membership came to Napa. Then, as Retreats go, it was much more than flawless. It was spectacular. AREA honors Terry for her significant contribution by naming her Co-Member of the Year for 2014.

Dennis Badagliacco is not an attorney but he probably could have been. As the member liaison to both the National Association of Realtors© and the California Association for legal issues, Dennis is on top of the latest and most significant legal issues affecting real estate professionals. As an adjunct to those duties, he is a regular contributor to the AREA Monthly Business Call-in and edits a column for the Monthly Newsletter. His expertise, coupled with an engaging style full of wit and insight, has made his participation an important ingredient of the AREA experience. For that effort, AREA is proud to announce that he has been named Co-Member of the Year.

For information further information please contact Carl Bosse, Director carl@areamericas.com or 1-520-625-9207.

AREA November-December 2014 Newsletter

A Message from Diana Bull

Seasons Greetings!

Well, this year has raced by like few others and Harrison and I are in Florida for a Thanksgiving visit with family having driven across our great country with a stop in New Orleans for the 2014 National Association of REALTORS® convention. It was good to see so many AREA members there as well as to attend an AREA social event hosted by Ocala, Florida member and current president of the Florida Association of REALTORS®, Sherri Meadows, together with husband and partner, Bert. It was truly a class event. I would like to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season. Many thanks for your kindnesses and great friendships that we all have been blessed to have because of this organization.

Truly,
Diana

 

In this issue:

  • NAR Convention
  • Chris McElroy’s “Rules to Live by for REALTORS®”
  • World Class Member
  • AREA Directory Up and Running
  • Two New AREA Initiatives
  • Where’s Dennis Badagliacco?

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AREA Nov-Dec 2014 Newsletter

AREA October 2014 Newsletter – Napa Retreat

A Message from Diana Bull

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!

Our Napa Retreat was OUTSTANDING! Many said it was,” Exceptional. Well worth the investment of time and travel.” Let’s give it an A+ and special thanks to both: Terry Wunderlich and John Bergman for their outstanding leadership. The venue was classy, the programs imaginative, the food over-the-top, and 70% of our membership attended – making our Napa Retreat a crowning success! The ambiance was awesome! Everyone’s participation was genuine. The group came together like a fine orchestra – in harmony, professionalism, and friendship! It was such a grand retreat! Thank you all who came and participated!

Truly,
Diana

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AREA October Newsletter

The very strange story of Pierre S. Cargot

Included in the annuls of wine country stories, is one probably as strange a tale as any ever told. Members who will be attending the 2014 AREA Retreat will have an opportunity to witness, first hand, the further unfolding of this story as on Tuesday morning there will be a face-off between California wine country real estate expert, John Bergman and a visitor from France, Pierre S. Cargot over the relative merits of California wines against those of France.

2014 AREA Retreat

The story has its origins in 1976 when, during a blind tasting competition held in France, the Chardonnay of Chateau Mont Elena, a winery located in Helena, California, deep in the heart of the Napa Valley, was chosen first in the world defeating the pride vintners of all of France.

A certain ageless gentlemen, Pierre S. Cargot, who witnessed this “tragedy” believes that the labels had been switched through a process called “label inversion”, which, when used in the classical manner, allows wine labels to be withdrawn from one bottle and placed on another without any trace of what may have happened. Cargot notes that this practice dates back thousands of years (actually before bottles were invented) and that it was used on urns to enhance their value. The fact that Guttenberg only invented the printing press in the 13th Century, thus making printed labels at the time, not possible, has not deterred Cargot who says that the ancient Chinese has already invented the label making process and it had come to the Middle East on the back of Yaks from the Himalayas well before the first wine tasting events featuring urns had begun.

Cargot, who received a doctorate in truffle cultivation from the Sorbet, an off-shoot of the Sorbonne, graduated at the head of his class, served honorably in several different wars including as a member of the French Foreign Legion. He attributes his ability to analyze, with flawless accuracy, to his great grandfather, Pierre S. Maginot, the designer of the famous Maginot Line that protected France during the Second World War. “Being able to strip away all of the elements of a situation, I am always able to find a credible and working solution to almost any problem. This Maginot trait, has served to separate me from the likes of John Bergman who boldly exclaim truth in the face of incontrovertible facts that contradict the very soul of their hypothesis”, he recently stated. “We all know that the Maginot Line was created to enable Dunkirk to occur so that British and French troops could take a break before returning to destroy the Nazi’s. I am disgusted when I hear that it had failed its purpose because nothing could be further from the truth.

In his biography, Cargot writes of his harrowing experience while searching for the world’s grandest truffle. He slipped, while standing on a river bank, and fell into the river, nearly drawing. When rescued he was delirious and everyone attributed that to being in Seine.

So, now his mission is to return the reputation of French wines to their previous position of glory. He will spare no expense to do just that on the morning of October 14, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. when he faces off against John Bergman.

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Reviving the Lost Art of Communication

By: Dana Harris
Del Mar, California

Dana is AREA’s resident Guru on the practical use of the internet. He can be reached at dana@danaharrishomes.com 1-858-442-5423.

 

technology and communication in real estate business

 

I once heard someone say “texting is a brilliant way to miscommunicate how you feel, and misinterpret what other people mean”. So it begs the question, when we are communicating with others: what is the best way?

With the advent of technology and the spread of cell phone use, communication has taken on the fast-paced, short attention span of instant gratification-style of conversation. For those of us who are older, or don’t have teenagers at home this may be hard to relate to. But, darn it, we must!

Consider the fact that the average age of a real estate agent is about 57 years old; by contrast the average age of homebuyers is in the mid-thirties. This new wave of millennial buyer has grown up with a cell phone, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Vine, Instagram and the list goes on, as their chief means of communication.

Acknowledging there is a time and place for all of these technologies to add some value in our lives; we also need to remember we are in a people business. Effective communication with another person is paramount to our success.

There is a big difference between listening, so you can talk next, and actually listening to someone else so you can understand. As agents, we need to ensure that important conversations are handled using the right communication medium for the best outcomes.

I once had a first time millennial buyers who tried to use texting to resolve a contract issue. When they asked me if all the contract documents I sent them should be read, or should they just be signed and sent back to me; I immediately invited them for a working dinner where we could go over the issues and figure them out.

They were very grateful for me taking the extra time to do this. All they really needed was someone they could trust, who will communicate with them, clearly, to help them understand the full implications of the decisions they were about to make. They had no clue how to do that. But our generation does and we need to show them how that works.

As agents we have been pulled into this technology and communication vortex by the industries rapid development of systems. We’ve become dependent on these online tools like the MLS, forms packages, client management software and electronic signing software like DocuSign. These tools allow us to email directly to and from our clients never using a stamp and saving tons of time. These tools also help when your clients are geographically diversified or have inflexible schedules. And, when we communicate it’s always important to think about what tools, like a cell phone, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Vine, Instagram, fit best into our communication strategy and work flow.

However let’s not forgot the tried and true value of face-to-face communication. And maybe next time, instead of sending them a text, we should invite them out for a cup of coffee.

Photo Credit: afagen via Compfight cc